SAN JOSE – After dismal performances in their previous two outings, the San Jose Sharks needed a response Saturday night in their game against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
They got it, but their first win of the season remains elusive.
Goalie Alex Nedeljkovic made 24 saves, including 18 in the first period, but Sidney Crosby’s second-period goal proved to be the winner as the Penguins handed the Sharks a 3-0 loss at SAP Center.
Penguins forward Anthony Mantha added an insurance goal at the 7:02 mark of the third period, and Evgeni Malkin scored an empty-netter with 21 seconds to go, as the Sharks (0-3-2) remained the NHL’s last winless team.
The Sharks open a four-game road trip on Tuesday against the New York Islanders.
“Better. Step in the right direction,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “There’s probably a little bit of a list there. Still giving up too much in our own end, puck play. We’re just still a little off in some areas.”
Ugly starts are nothing new for San Jose as the team started 0-5-0 in 2022, 0-10-1 in 2023, and 0-7-2 last season. They finished with the NHL’s fourth-worst record in 2022-23 and have ended the previous two years at the bottom of the league standings.
The Sharks began this season with overtime losses to both the Vegas Golden Knights and Anaheim Ducks, but were completely outclassed in their last two games before Saturday. The Sharks lost 5-1 to the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday, in which they didn’t manage a shot on net in the third period, and 6-3 to the Utah Mammoth on Friday, in which they were badly outchanced in the first period.
“The victory will come with the way we work and the way we compete,” Warsofsky said before Saturday’s game. “The game is a humbling game. We can’t beat ourselves. We have to be disciplined in certain situations.
“Right now, we just want to win the game. You’ve got to put the work in to the get the result. So we’ve got to worry about the process and the way we have to work and the way we have to play, and the victory will come with that.”
The Sharks created a handful of scoring chances in an up-tempo first two periods but were unable to beat Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry, who finished with 30 saves.
On the Penguins’ goal, Rickard Rakell took the puck around the Sharks’ net and found defenseman Kris Letang at the blue line. His shot toward the net was then redirected past Nedeljkovic for his third goal of the season.
“Obviously, I would have liked to win, but I think it’s more, now I gotta go see those guys,” said Nedeljkovic, who was a Penguin the previous two seasons before he was traded to the Sharks in July. “I’ve got to listen to Sid talk about how he scored a goal.”
The Penguins later took a 2-0 lead as Justin Brazeau danced around Macklin Celebrini and fed Mantha for his second goal this season.
Celebrini scored his first goal of the season on Friday, and stil leads the Sharks with five points in five games. His childhood idol, Crosby, has seven points in six games.
Originally Published: October 18, 2025 at 9:27 PM PDT